Fever Dream
by andysoneandonlyangel
Summary: Daine falls ill and Numair realizes what she means to him as she fights for her life.
1. Chapter 1

The ride back to Tortall seemed longer than usual. The beaten down dirt path stretched on for miles with the city walls nowhere in sight. Birds chattered from the leafy branches as they filled the two travelers in on what had been happening in the city. The wind blew gently through the trees, sending a welcome breeze to the travelers. Daine wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. Shielding her eyes, she glared up at the sun, its rays seemingly mocking her on the return trip home. Her well-worn tunic seemed like a potato sack scratching and irritating her skin. Her eyes burned and no matter how many times she closed her eyes, no tears would come to relieve the ache. Over the past few days, the aches and pains had gotten worse. She had been on the verge of complaining but she didn't want to seem like an untested, spoiled maiden, so she bit her tongue and endured the pain. As Daine rode past the birds, they fell silent, sensing that something was amiss with their friend.

Beside Daine was her mentor Numair. Numair looked the same as always; his tan was deepened from his time in the sun, and his hair had recently been trimmed. His shirt flowed easily over his muscled body, his large hands gripped the reins tightly. The only thing that had changed between teacher and student, mage and magelet, was a deepening of their relationship. Over the past years, they had grown closer, no longer was their relationship one of teacher and student, but one of an undeniably deep friendship.

Unaware of Daine's hardship, he was deep in thought about a recent spell he had mastered. Already, he had turned his attention to another that he had recently discovered. Daine scowled fiercely over at him. Was he so lost in academia that the sun refused to bother him? Or was she being too sensitive? Cloud, her companion these many years turned her head and cocked it to one side as if to ask a question. Daine slightly shook her head as they spoke to each other in their secret way. Their conversation flowed effortlessly as Daine convinced Cloud that was perfectly fine.

In the midst of their silent banter, Daine was quickly overcome by a wave of nausea and the earth tilted. The ground flew up to meet Daine as she slid sideways off Cloud. Cloud, sensing something was wrong, whinnied in alarm to alert Numair. Wake up stork-man, she cried! His concentration broken, Numair swung his body to the right and deftly caught Daine in his strong arms before she tumbled to the ground.

"Daine?" He called to her. "Magelet?" Numair brushed her wavy hair away from her face as he looked over her with his dark brown eyes, the colour darkened with his worry and concern.

Daine's face had a slick sheen of sweat that glittered in the sunlight. Her eyelids fluttered with her eyelashes beating softly against her cheek. Her skin burned with a fire that threatened to sear Numair's hand as he brushed his palm gently across her cheek. Daine's pulse raced as if her heart was fighting a losing battle.

Numair recognized enough of the symptoms to know what new foe they both faced: unicorn fever. His skin turned pale despite his tan. He had never known the fever to be so accelerated. If Daine had complained to him even a day earlier, he could have stemmed the illness from spreading. Softly he cursed Daine for being so stubborn as to think nothing was wrong. He was never going to forgive her if she died on him.

Numair called upon his Gift and closed his eyes. In no time at all, he was back in his wing of the Tortallan palace, carrying his student and his friend's limp body through the stone halls.


	2. Chapter 2

Numair kept Daine company, sitting silently by her side, slumped in a chair. He brushed a hand through his hair and sighed. He and Alanna had tried everything. He had drained his Gift trying to battle the illness and he was empty. There was no trace of his black flame left in him. Alanna had left the room not ten minutes past, her violet eyes filled with unshed tears. It looked hopeless.

The candle on Daine's bedside table flickered, casting long shadows along the walls. In the dying light of the flame, Numair cast a quick glance at his student. Daine's breathing was laboured, coming out in prolonged gasps. Her cracked lips parted as she fought for air. It killed Numair that he couldn't do anything for her. He was supposed to protect her! He was supposed to do everything in his power to help, and yet he was powerless. Numair closed his eyes, wondering if Daine would live through the night. She had to…she just had to; if not for Cloud and Alanna and all her friends, then for him. She just had to live for him.

As Numair drifted off uneasily into the realm of the Dream King, Gainel, Daine fought an internal battle against the fever. The heat overpowered her. It consumed her mind, her body and her soul. She felt fire dripping through her veins; the heat built up from within, the flames grew larger. The fever drained her body.

Black shadows surrounded Daine's mind. They seemed like wisps of smoke, but then bright spots of light broke through the darkness. Her mind suddenly became more conscious than it was a few moments ago. Daine saw a golden haired woman weeping into the muscled chest of a tall male with antlers that nestled in the crown of his head. The woman turned her tearstained face towards Daine.

"Ma?" Daine hoarsely whispered into the darkness. Her voice was so soft that it didn't even awaken Numair.

The vision left as suddenly as it came. Daine's hands unconsciously clutched onto her bed sheets as her back arched towards the wooden ceiling. A whimper broke through her lips, a sound so haunting and eerie that the bats that roosted in her room flapped their wings and shrieked in agony. The new cacophony of sounds woke Numair. His eyes were greeted with a sight that would no doubt haunt him until his dying day. Daine's eyes were wide open and yet she saw nothing; her mouth parted in a scream and yet no sound came out. Her arched back gave way and her limp body once more slumped down. It shook Numair more than all the other past horrors he had seen in his life.

He could not bring himself to imagine a life without her.

He swept a tentative hand over Daine's damp curls and fought a swelling wave of emotions that threatened to break free. He thought back to happier times, when there was just him and Daine. Her smile stood out in his memory, that beautiful smile that was so timid and hesitant in the beginning when she first encountered him. Her laugh rang out clearly in his ears. Numair raised a shaking hand to his face and wiped off a few errant tears that had managed to escape. He couldn't cry when there was still life left in her. Where there was life, there was still hope. Numair clung onto that belief with all his soul, he had to believe that Daine would be able to fight this fever.

Daine tried to fight the fire that threatened to consume her. She tossed and turned in her bed until refreshingly cool hands brushed against her cheeks and calmed her. A familiar voice whispered into her ear, "Don't you dare die on me magelet. Don't you dare."

In that moment when Daine instinctively leaned into his palm, Numair knew with undeniable certainty. He loved her.


	3. Chapter 3

Numair sat back in his chair, overwhelmed by his revelation. He loved her. He saw it now. He had always loved her. He buried his face in his hands. Even though he loved her, he couldn't tell her! He could just see it now…Daine would laugh at him, scoff at him for turning sentimental. _But_, he thought, _what if she felt the same way?_ Then Numair shook his head. There was no way she would. Why would she?

Knowing that he loved her was hard enough. The fact that he could never act on his feelings and sentiments was even worse.

Without warning, silver fire erupted on the ground next to Numair's chair. He started in shock, but soon recognized the badger's musky, woodsy scent and bossy demeanor. The badger ignored Numair, albeit acknowledging him with a small nod. The badger braced his two front paws onto Daine's coverlet and stuck his nose into her ear. He seemed to be conversing with her.

The badger then turned to Numair and looked up at the big mage with piercing black eyes. "She'll be fine. If all goes well, she'll wake up around dawn. Look after my kit Master Salamín."

Before Numair could respond, silver fire blossomed around the badger, and he disappeared just as suddenly as he came. Numair released his breath—he had not been aware that he stopped breathing. He felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Daine would live. And yet, in the midst of his joy, he could not feel but a bit apprehensive. Would he ever be able to treat her with the same camaraderie as before or would his feelings give way and betray him? Numair shook these thoughts to the side…now was still not the time to worry about these trivial details. All that mattered was that Daine would live…wasn't that enough?

Night passed by. The stars that festooned the darkness gave way to clouds of pink and orange as the sun rose. Dawn came and passed and still there was no change in Daine. Numair's worry resurfaced. He planted himself back in his seat by her bed trying to make himself comfortable. As he looked upon Daine's face, a tiny movement caught his eye.

Her eyelids started fluttering; her still hands began to twitch. What seemed like a century later, Daine opened her blue-grey eyes and looked around the room. The first sight she saw was Numair's weary but overjoyed face.

"Numair," she croaked, voice rusty with disuse. "You look awful!"

Numair gave a weak chuckle and pulled her upright for a bone-crushing hug, forgetting in his joy that she had only began her recovery. He quickly released her and Daine settled her head back once more onto her pillow.

"Goddess bless Daine! I was so worried I was going to lose you." His voice cracked at the very end, his calm demeanor crumbling at the edges.

"Mmm, I'm hurt," Daine mumbled, her eyes closing once more. Numair leaned in close to hear her last words before she gave way to sleep. "I thought you of all people would know that it's gonna take more than some fever to keep me from you."

"I'll be here when you wake up magelet," he promised, brushing one palm across her cheek.

Daine slept to midday, awaking to find Numair reading a tome of Tortallan history that she had never seen before. Sensing she was awake, Numair slid the book off his lap and scooted forward in his chair to take a hold of Daine's hands which lay on top of her coverlet.

"How are you feeling? Better?"

Daine looked into his eyes and saw worry etched onto his face. She nodded and saw relief flood over him.

"What?" she said, seeing questions written all over his face.

"Nothing," he answered, a bit too quickly.

"You want to know what happened don't you?" she accused.

"Maybe. Okay yes, I do." Numair caved. "How in the Goddess' name did you manage to recover so quickly?"

"Badger told me it wasn't my time yet," she told her friend matter-of-factly. "He told me I had to come back here, but I didn't need him to tell me that."

"What do you mean?"

"It was you." He instinctively squeezed her hand with the gentlest of pressures. She wasn't even aware that he had done so.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You kept me here Numair. When I was almost near to the Black God, I heard your voice. You called me back. When I heard you, I knew I wasn't ready to leave you behind."

Numair's hand squeezed Daine's small one harder as he heard her admission. Mayhap there was hope for them after all.

Later on that day when Daine fell asleep once more, Numair gazed intently at his wrist until a gold chain appeared, boasting a small oval gold locket. He came so close to losing her this time, he didn't want to risk losing her again. He quickly snipped off a lock of her hair and clipped it on one side of the locket, securing it in place. For a long moment, he held the bracelet in the palm of his hand. He viewed the locket with a steadfastness that one day his wish would be fulfilled, that one day his love for her would no longer have to be hidden away. The locket became a bittersweet token of his love.

As he closed the locket and stuffed it unceremoniously into his pocket, Numair effectively and simultaneously veiled his love for her as well. In time, he would let her know. But for now, he sighed inwardly, he would just have to hide it. Hide and bear it. Feeling a bit disheartened, Numair looked down at the face of his sleeping friend and secret love.

Reaching into his pocket, he fingered the locket. A lover's token indeed.


End file.
